Russian Presidential Representative: "Putin-Trump Meeting" Not Canceled, "Will Happen Later"

After arriving in Washington on the 24th, Dmitriyev said in an interview with CNN that the Russia-US leaders' meeting was "not canceled as President Trump claimed," but rather postponed, and they might meet a bit later.

On the 16th of this month, after a phone call with Putin, Trump announced that the two leaders would meet soon in Budapest, Hungary. However, on the 21st, he told reporters in the Oval Office that the meeting plan was on hold. On the 22nd, Trump stated that he had canceled the planned meeting between US and Russian leaders in the near term, citing a sense that "the timing was not right" and that a meeting now "would not achieve the intended goals."

On the same day Trump confirmed the cancellation of the "Putin-Trump meeting," the US announced sanctions against Russia's two largest oil companies. In response, Putin stated that the new US sanctions against Russia were intended to exert pressure but would not significantly impact the Russian economy.

It is currently unclear whether Dmitriyev will be received by Trump during this US visit. Dmitriyev declined to reveal whom he would meet during his trip. The US news website Axios reported that Dmitriyev would meet with US Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff on the 25th in Miami.

Since taking office in January this year, the Trump administration's stance on Russia-Ukraine peace talks has shifted repeatedly: initially boasting about ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict within 24 hours, later claiming the US would withdraw from mediation, and then saying it was "a joke." On August 15, Trump and Putin held the first face-to-face meeting between US and Russian leaders in over four years in Alaska, USA. At a subsequent joint press conference, Putin expressed hope that the understanding reached with Trump would "pave the way for peace in Ukraine." However, no agreement was reached during this meeting. Ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine remain deadlocked to this day.

Earlier this year, Trump pressured Ukraine to make territorial concessions to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but in late September, he claimed that Ukraine had the capability to "take back the whole of Ukraine." When asked by reporters on the 17th of this month whether Ukraine needed to exchange territory for peace, Trump merely said, "Nobody knows." He also ruled out the possibility of a trilateral meeting between US, Russian, and Ukrainian leaders in the near future.